Principal's Report

Class of 2022 

On Monday, 17th October, our class of 2022 celebrated their last formal day at Epping Secondary College before our VCE students head into the exam period and VCAL students complete their final work tasks before heading into the world of work and/or future learning at TAFE. 

The Year 12s had a breakfast in the morning followed by some cohort celebrations.  The final assembly was held in the gym with students from Years 10 and 11 joining our Class of 2022. It was great to hear our student leaders speak for the final time to our assembly and to share some highlights put together by Ms Mesquita. It takes a community to help our students grow and be 'future ready' so thank you to everyone for the part you have played in helping our Year 12's get to this point. 

We wish all of our Year 12 students well for the weeks ahead and remind them that our team are here to support them through completing final work requirements, sitting exams and managing the transition from school to an apprenticeship, to TAFE, to work or to university.

We look forward to celebrating the achievements of our Class of 2022 with students and their families at their Valedictory Dinner on Thursday, 17th November.

School Council News

Earlier this week College Council met for their October meeting and their first face to face meeting for 2022.  It was great to be able to engage in some healthy discussion around our work across the College and to further enlist College Council around our school improvement work.  Some key information from our meeting includes:

School Vision

College Council have approved a new vision statement for the College .  Our new vision to take us into 2023 and beyond is:

“Epping Secondary College strives to enable and equip all young people to reach their full potential of being curious and acquiring new knowledge and skills; of forming strong, valuable, healthy relationships; of participating in creative expression; and of building strong mental and physical wellbeing.”

This will support our new values of Respect, Resilience and Care, and our College Mantra of “Learning for Life.”

Food Technology Refurbishment 

This has been a project that has been talked about for many years and we are now pleased to let our school community know that a formal application has been submitted to the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) for us to undertake this work as a school funded project.  College Council have committed a maximum of $1.1 million to this project and we look forward to hearing some further advice and an approval from the VSBA in the future.

Scholarship Program

After a number of years in the wilderness, our scholarship program is back and better than ever with a revised range of scholarships available to both our current students and our new Year 7 cohort for 2023.  

These include a Primary School Dux scholarship to the value of $300 per year whilst the student remains at Epping Secondary College.  It also includes Academic, Sporting, The Arts and Community Citizenship scholarships at Year 7/8, Year 9/10 and Year 11/12.  

Our Scholarship Flyer and further information will shortly be provided to all current students in Year 7-11 and also to our new families joining us in Year 7, 2023.

Updated Policies 

College Council approved the following policies that are all now attached for you to review and become familiar with:

• Gender Identity Policy
• Inclusion Policy
• Working with Children’s Check Policy

In the coming weeks we will be providing students and parents with an opportunity to provide feedback on a DRAFT Bullying Prevention Policy – stay tuned!

General Approvals 

College Council were pleased to be able to approve a Suicide Prevention Awareness Day fundraiser, Year 9 Bogong Camp for 2023 and for the College to enter into a new lease with Canon for the provision of photocopiers across the College.

Respect

One of our core College Values is the value of Respect and we define this as “we treat all individuals with respect.  Our relationships are based on trust and mutual respect.  We recognise differing circumstances and needs of our students and are dedicated to achieve the best possible outcomes for all.”  This is a value that we wish to see all of our school community members upholding and demonstrating when working with each other or our College team.  

Unfortunately, over the last few days we have had a considerable amount of vandalism around the school, taking place out of school hours.  We are of the strong belief that this has been undertaken by students, simply due to the personalised nature of comments that have been left on buildings, lockers and other areas of the school.  Not only is this behaviour showing a lack of respect towards our College community, it is directing valuable time and resources away from our core work of supporting student learning and wellbeing.

As a College we are following up these incidents with Victoria Police and working hard to ensure that all damage and vandalism is quickly rectified as we continue to foster a sense of pride in our College community.  

We are also asking all families to have a discussion at home about the importance of paying respect to facilities, in this case their College and an organisation that supports them to create many positive opportunities for their individual pathways and futures beyond school.  

All families are reminded that the school is not an area that is open for students beyond the school day, unless attending scheduled events, so please reinforce with your children that they should not be in the school grounds after hours, in the evenings or on weekends.  Your support with this is greatly appreciated.

Preparing for 2023

Planning is well underway at the school level for the 2023 school year and we wanted to take this opportunity to share a few key pieces of information with our College community.

After careful consider and a review of current practices, we will be moving to a 5 session day for all students in 2023.  This brings with it some slight adjustments to the school day and the timings of recess and lunch.  In 2023. From the commencement of 2023 we will require all students arriving at school by 8:45am each morning, with their first classes commencing at 8:50am.  The school day for students will end at 3:00pm.

Our bell times for 2023 will be:

For those of you planning a break in January 2023, please note the following arrangements for the start of the 2023 School Year.

Monday 30th January 2023 will be the first day of the 2023 school year for  Year 7, 11, 12 students  and any Year 10 students that are fast tracking a VCE subject.

Tuesday 31st January 2023 will have all students onsite, with this being the first day for Year 8, 9 & 10 students.

Reminders

Finishing this addition with a few reminders for some key dates that are ahead of us, as follows:

• Monday 31st October – This is a common professional practice day for our staff, where they will be undertaking work to support the teaching and learning that occurs across the College.  Students are not required at school on this day.
• Thursday 17th November – Year 12 Valedictory Dinner for students, families and staff (ticket holders only)
• Friday 18th November – Year 12 (2023) Early Commencement Program begins – all Year 11 students required to be in attendance
• Monday 28th November – Year 11 (2023) Early Commencement Program begins – all Year 10 students required to be in attendance
• Friday 2nd December – Final day of school for current Year 10 and Year 11 students.
• Monday 5th December – Year 8, 9 & 10 (2023) Early Commencement Program begins – all Year 7-9 students required to be in attendance
• Tuesday 13th December – Statewide Transition Day – Year 7 (2023) students at school for the day
• Thursday 15th & Friday 16th December – Activity Days for current Year 7-9 students

Brad Moyle

College Principal